Crumbling
by Mobius Man
Summary: This story tells of the hardships and troubles that plague the life of Mitsune Konno. *Updated and Revised*
1. Money Troubles

Crumbling

  
  


by: Mobius Man

  
  
  
  


Hey Love Hina fans, or anybody else who is curious, welcome to my first ever fanfic. Since giving introductions seems to be the way to go, I'll insert mine here. This story focuses on Mitsune Konno, also known as Kitsune. For those who haven't seen Love Hina, Mitsune is the fun-loving, prankster of the Hinata Sou. However, in this story, life turns for the worst. Some self-realization and bad luck send her spiraling into seclusion and severe depression. This story isn't set in any particular time during Love Hina, I'd say somewhere between episodes 12 and 13 of the series.

  
  
  
  


Chapter 1

  
  


Kitsune laughed as she watched Naru punch Keitaro, hurtling him down the hallway. Keitaro lay on the ground, with a dazed look in his eyes. Kitsune walked over to Keitaro, and kneeled down in front of him.

"Keitaro, you should know better than to touch a girl's breast." Kitsune chuckled.

Keitaro immediately picked himself off the ground and put his finger in the air, as to give great attention to his position.

"It wasn't my fault Naru. I slipped on this banana peel laying on the ground! I swear!" he contended.

Naru rolled her eyes, "What am I ever gonna do with you. Stupid perv."

All the while this was happening, Kitsune stood watching everything. While she had a stern face on the outside, she was laughing hysterically on the inside. 

"What a sucker," she thought to herself, "he fell for the old banana peel trick. Haha!"

Now that the fun was over, she proceeded to walk downstairs, where she exited the Hinata House, and took a walk to the nearest bar. Once there, she advanced to the usual routine. Sit down, yell at the bar tender, and get drunk. She got especially drunk this day, a few too many glasses of sake. Nevertheless she still managed to stay conscious, and have a good time gossiping to girls, and flirting with guys. Unfortunately for her, she became careless with herself, and left her money, which happened to be almost all of her money, in a purse laying on top of the bar counter. When her back was turned, a man stole her purse, and walked out of the bar. Kitsune didn't notice this until a half an hour later. By then, it was too late for her too do anything about it. Still in a bit of a stupor, she stumbled out of the bar, and looked around. She saw no one. Then she began wandering the path back to Hinata Sou, searching the ground in case she may have dropped her purse somewhere. But it was to no avail. She kept searching for a couple more hours, and did not return until dark. When she arrived home, she was frantic, but still subdued by her sake. She quickly removed her shoes and ran to find Keitaro. Racing upstairs, she saw him walking out of his room, with papers and a manila envelope in hand. 

"Keitaro! Keitaro!" Kitsune bellowed.

Keitaro looked up from his papers and opened his mouth, "There you are, Kitsune. I'm glad your back, I need to talk to you."

"Huh? Uh-yeah ok." she blurted out while following Keitaro down the rest of the hallway.

"Kitsune, you still haven't given me the money to cover this month's rent."

Kitsune halted instantly in her tracks. Her skin turned pale, and she began to sweat. She knew she only a few yen to her name. 

"What am I going to do? Damnit, there's no way I can pay Keitaro now...I guess I'll just have to tell him what happened." she though.

"Well, Keitaro. When I was down at the bar, I err...when I wasn't paying attention, somebody swiped my purse. I had all my money in it. There isn't any way I can pay my rent."

Keitaro sighed, "Come on now. You can stop with the jokes."

"Huh? But I'm not joking!" she said, her voice raising in volume and pitch.

"Kitsune, just how many drinks did you have at the bar today?"

"How many?" she muttered to herself, "Umm, I uh-don't know exactly. Six, maybe eight?"

Keitaro snarled, "Well there ya go. I see who 'swiped' your money. It was the bar tender! You always blow your money on sake, and expect me to rescue you out of debt. At least you could be honest with me and tell the truth."

He gave her one last angry look and walked by her in a huff.

"But I'm not lying!" she yelled at him, but to no use.

She stood there for a while in awe; she couldn't believe that Keitaro would disregard her, not to mention accuse her of being a liar. Sure she may be a bit too gratuitous with her spending, she thought to herself, but she knew she had plenty of money left for paying her rent. Angered and hurt, Kitsune retreated to her room where she promptly went to bed, hoping her problems would be solved in the morning.


	2. Attacked and Insulted

Chapter 2  
  


Life was not better for Mitsune the next day, as she believed it would be. The day was gloomy, with a slight drizzle. The sky was covered with grey. Kitsune yawned as she uncovered herself. After rubbing her eyes several times in an attempt to magically destroy her vicious hangover, she slid open the door of her room, and walked to the kitchen. Keitaro and Naru were already there eating breakfast.

"Good morning." the two said in unison. 

Feeling a bit hesitant, Kitsune said nothing, and only made a slight gesture of acknowledgment. Moving over the counter, she picked up a bowl, and poured some cereal into it. The only sounds which could be heard were that of Naru crunching on her toast. This made Kitsune especially nervous, for she was waiting for Keitaro's impending attack. Yet-there was nothing.

"Kitsune," Keitaro said all of the sudden, almost making her jump out of her skin, "since I understand that you sometimes get a little carried away with yourself, I am going to forgo collecting rent from you this month."

"Ahem!" Naru snapped.

"Oh, and sorry for being so harsh last night. But, you have to make sure you keep enough money stowed away to cover your rent."

"Thanks Keitaro." she said softly. 

Keitaro, extremely worried about getting the hell knocked out of him by Naru, got up and quickly scampered out of the kitchen. Now alone with Kitsune, Naru turned her attention to her.

"Don't mind that idiot, he was just on a power trip." she said.

"Oh, don't worry about me. I think I can defend myself against a puny little wimp like Keitaro." she chuckled.

Both of them laughed out loud in unison. However, for Kitsune, this was more of a release of pressure than a funny joke. She was wholly worried that Keitaro might actually throw her out. But then she smirked and thought that moron would never do a thing like that. Ridding her mind of her problems, Kitsune noticed the time on the clock.

"Hey Naru, aren't you gonna be late for class."

Naru glanced up at the clock and shrieked, "Oh damnit, you're right! Ooo, that jerk is going to make me late. I'll give it to him..."

Naru ran out of the kitchen and out of the Hinata House poste haste. Kitsune blinked a few times in awe, then shrugged and returned to eating her breakfast. She wondered what to do today as she chewed. Then, a very disturbing fact came to her.

"I really don't do anything with myself." she whispered to herself.

A pang in her chest developed. What does she do besides blow the money she had, flirt with some random guys, and get drunk? Her expression rapidly turned sour, and she put down her spoon. She racked her brain to list everything she does with her life. And all that came to her was writing. Most of that wasn't even real writing, just short stories she did for fun. She shook her head in an attempted to snap out of her perplexity.

"Oh what the hell does it matter. If all I want to do is be a bum, then so be it." she convinced herself.

Feeling a new sense of pride, Kitsune walked upstairs and took a nice long shower. Subsequently, she put on one of her sexier outfits, and left Hinata to carouse the town. And carouse she did! Many a man gave her some excited looks. Fully aware of this, she slowly made her way to the bar. Of corse, since she blew all of her money the day before, she slipped enough yen from Keitaro's room (don't tell) when he wasn't home to buy herself a drink or two. Approaching the bartender, she sat down at her favorite stool, and slapped down her money. 

"You know what I want." she blurted out.

"Usual huh?" he asked as he filled up a glass of sake.

Kitsune's smile grew of the glass filled to the top. The bartender slid it to her, and Kitsune accepted with total adoration. Just then, the man beside her faced her and put his arm up on the counter.

"Well, well-what's a pretty girl such as yourself doin' here all alone?" he asked eagerly. 

Kitsune was a bit surprised by his nonchalant manner. Nonetheless, she too, became a little anxious herself.

"Hmm, not much I suppose. I'm here just sitting by my lonesome, about to enjoy a drink." 

The man smirked as he noticed her slight whimper.

"Would you mind if I removed your lonesomeness?"

"Why not at all."

The man's smirk grew into a smile. He had a slight muscular build, with slick black hair. His eyes gazed into Kitsune's with a firm, yet gently look.

"It's not very common to find a beautiful young woman out in a bar in the middle of the day."

"I guess you're just lucky." she laughed.

"Maybe so, Kitsune."

Kitsune paused for a moment, and pondered how he knew her name, when she was sure she hadn't told him yet. 

"Hey, how'd you know my name?"

"Oh, I've been in this bar a few times when you were here. I overheard your name."

She nodded, and went to pick up her drink.

"So, what do you do with yourself," she blurted out, "when your not here of course."

Kitsune, stopped reaching for her glass and gave him a puzzled look.

"You do do something besides drink here, right?" he asked again, this time with a less subtle amount of force.

"Of course I do. What, you think I'm easy or something?"

"Easy. Ha! That's an understatement. They don't come easier than you babe!" he laughed loudly.

This sent Kitsune into shock. Why would this man want to attack her like this? She thought then he was just joking around.

"Haha! Real funny."

"It's really sad when you think it is funny," he continued his rant incessantly, "God knows how many guys a slut like you has gone to bed with."

At this point, she realized he wasn't kidding. With a surge of fury, she stood up and pounded her fist on the bar counter.

"Who the hell do you think you are! You don't know a damn thing about me! How dare you sit here judge me like I'm kind of whore!"

The entire bar fell silent, with all staring at Kitsune and the man. The man just laughed hysterically. 

"Of course I can judge you! I see you all the time here prancing around, drunk as a dog. Good god, you flirt with every man you can. And anybody at all with a yen in their pocket is automatically your friend, because they can buy you drinks. It's so disgusting, it's hilarious!"

Kitsune's expression of anger hastily turned to ultimate embarrassment. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. Everybody was starring at her, and they all had a look in their eyes, like they were saying, 'What a dirty girl she is.' Be that as it may, her eyes burned, as she began to cry. She picked up her glass of sake and threw it in his face while calling him a bastard. With tears pouring down her face, she ran as fast as she could out of the bar. She didn't look back at all, just burring her face in her arm and sprinting back to Hinata House. She ripped open the door and ran upstairs to her room, where she curled up by her bed in the fetal position, and cried.


	3. Comfort of Friends

Chapter 3  
  
  
  


Putting the key up to the door, Keitaro found that it was already unlocked. He wondered who was home. He left before Naru, and Shinobu and Su said they wouldn't be home until dinner. He walked in anyway, not really paying any attention to it. He was exhausted from his day at prep school. All he wanted to do is run upstairs and take a nap. Guess what-that's what he did! However, when he reached the top of the stairs he heard sobbing coming from Kitsune's room. Confused by this unpleasant sound, he stepped silently toward her room. He slid the door open carefully, and peeked his head inside. What he saw astounded him. Kitsune, curled up like a little child, crying to herself. He had never seen Kitsune cry before. At worst she'd be a little cranky if she had a bad day, but to cry, he had never seen before.

"Kit-Kitsune. What's wrong?" he asked, with as much affection as he could.

Kitsune lowered her arms, and glimpsed at Keitaro. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her entire face was red. Her sleeves were wet with tears, as was her face. She sobbed a few times.

"I hate myself . . . " she whimpered.

Keitaro was aghast. He couldn't believe she'd say something like that. Then he worried that it might have been his harshness that made her like this. 

"No," he thought to himself, "this has to be something else. Naru said she was fine after I left. But what could possibly make Kitsune so sad?"

"Kitsune. What's wrong? What happened today? Did somebody do something to you?"

"I-I don't know who. Some man I was talking to-to at the bar . . . He called me a slut, and said I'm some dirty horrible person." she chocked

Keitaro sat down next to her and embraced her. She immediately submerged her face into his shoulder, and began to cry harder.

"He-I don't even know him. I don't understand why he said that. And-and everyone there just looked at me. They all thought the same thing. Keitaro, am I really so bad?"

Keitaro was speechless. He knew she may be flirtatious or giddy sometimes, but he also knew she was a good person. He held her tighter now, trying to comfort her as much as possible.

"No of course you aren't a bad person, Kitsune."

Kitsune looked up at his face, and saw his big comforting smile, as well as his blush. The corners of her lips cracked a smile.

"Thank you, Keitaro." she said in a whisper.

The sound of footsteps echoed from the stairway. They got closer and closer to Kitsune and Keitaro.

"Keitaro! Are you home? Where are you?" Naru's voice bellowed.

Just then, Naru turned her head, and spied Kitsune deep within Keitaro's arms, not to mention Keitaro's bright red face. The oddness of jealousy can contort reality, and this is no exception to Naru. Her hand turned into a fist.

"Keitaro, just what the hell . . . " her voice quickly tapered off.

Then she observed that Keitaro's shirt was wet, and Kitsune was in tears. Naru swiftly ran over to them and kneeled down.

"Kitsune, what's the matter?"

"Some jerk down at the bar said some mean things to her." Keitaro answered sternly.

"Oh my God. Why would someone do that?"

Kitsune sniffled, "I don't know. I didn't even know who he was."

Naru gasped, and began caressing Kitsune's head.

"Don't worry about what some half-drunk asshole says. You are a good person and a great friend."

The two helped Kitsune to her feet. Naru pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the tears from Kitsune's sobbing red face. Then she covered her nose with it.

"Here, blow your nose."

Kitsune blew and coughed, and rubbed her eyes.

"Thanks guys. I'll be okay now." she conveyed soundlessly.

"Are you sure?" Naru asked; still very worried about Kitsune.

Kitsune nodded, and walked over to her window. Naru motioned to Keitaro to leave. The pair walked out, and proceeded downstairs.

"Just what was that all about Keitaro?" Naru asked anxiously.

Keitaro shrugged, "Honestly, I really don't know. I got home about 20 minutes ago. I saw that the door was unlocked, so I came in and went up to my room. That's when I found Kitsune in her room crying hysterically. All I found out from her was that some guy down at the bar called her a slut, and ridiculed her in front of everybody."

Naru clenched both of her fists, "If I ever find that son of a bitch, I'll beat the hell out of him!"

"Definitely!" he agreed.

On the bottom step, Naru stopped abruptly.

"You do know, Keitaro, that Kitsune isn't like that." she murmured softly.

Slightly shocked that Naru might actually think he feels that way, he replies, "Of course I know! She may be wild at times, but I understand that's just the way she is. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that."

Naru nodded, and the restarted their walking. Meanwhile, Kitsune leaned up against her window, brushing away a small tear from her eye.

"I know you mean well Naru and Keitaro, "she thought to herself, "but I'm not a good girl."


	4. Self-reflection and Cake Baking

Chapter 4  
  


Peering out the window, Kitsune glanced at her half-transparent reflection. Yet another tear poured from her eye, rolling down her blush red cheek. Images of that man's face, sneering at her, kept popping into her mind. Shaking her head violently, she tried to rid herself of his presence. But what he said about her lingered in her mind, as well as the looks she got from everybody else at the bar. Is she really some freewheeling tramp? She then remembered her thoughts during breakfast. Maybe the man was right; she hardly did anything productive with herself. Only one thing was all she could come up with. A cloak of worthlessness wrapped itself around her body. Kitsune shuttered, and sat down on her bed. 

"Could it be," she whispered to herself, "could it be the truth? Am I really good for nothing? It can't be true. It can't!"

She flopped herself furiously onto her bed, and again began to cry. She squeezed her temples, and rolled off her bed. Her eyes popped open from the sudden thud her body made while hitting the floor. She gasped, holding her breath. Thinking to herself suffocation was the best way, she took her pillow, and pressed it as tightly as possible against her face. Silence followed, and its eerie presence compelled Kitsune it remove the pillow, and gasp for air. Now the frantic thoughts of pain, suffering, suicide, and angst began resolving themselves, allowing Kitsune to regain some control of herself. What she had just done-a contemplation of suicide-finally became apparent to her. This scared the hell out of her. Just a few hours ago, Kitsune was a normal happy girl, only floating about carelessly. Yet, she had not harmed anybody. Sure she may have played some tricks, and "borrow" several too many yen from Keitaro, but she cares about other people.

"It's not like I'm self-centered or anything I guess. I honestly do care about what happens to my friends," she thought, "I least, I think I care. I wanna see Keitaro and Naru be happy with each other. Keitaro is a nice person-someone Naru deserves."

Nevertheless, Kitsune's self-pep talk didn't help. A solemn tear rolled down her cheek. Kitsune did not care. She just rolled back onto her bed, and covered herself up. Perhaps things would be better for her in dreams.  
  


How ever stupid he can be, Keitaro can sometimes pull off a decent idea once in a while. And to show the world he isn't entirely retarded, he began preparing for an idea that struck him. With his experience in baking ultra chocolate cakes for himself, and the help of Shinobu kick ass cooking, Keitaro thought a "get happy" cake might be in order for Kitsune.

"Shinobu!" Keitaro yelled.

Shinobu was already in the kitchen, cleaning off some plates left over from breakfast. The voice of Keitaro quickly broke her attention away from this. She ran out of the kitchen and over to Keitaro.

"What is it sempai?" she asked intently.

"Oh, Shinobu-are you busy?"

She shook her head.

"Great! Come into the kitchen. I got a awesome idea cheer up Kitsune!"

A giant smile ran across his face as he dashed into the kitchen. Shinobu was wholly confused by Keitaro. Poor girl.

And so went the amazing, "Let's make Kitsune happy again" cake making scene. Actually, the first attempt blew up in their faces, literally. Shinobu forgot to remind Keitaro to watch his measurements. Still, they came through in their second attempt. While Keitaro mixed the batter, Shinobu asked him just what Keitaro thought of Kitsune?

"Well. . ." Keitaro said, trailing off. He was a little dumbfounded by this question, "most people misinterpret her. While she does seem kinda wild, and loose on the outside, she is a very caring person. I believe that deep down inside, she is very concerned about each and every one of us."

Shinobu smiled at this, feeling that her sempai was such an intelligible man.

"She is free-spirited, "Shinobu began to add, "but I really have never noticed anything wrong with the way she acts. All she does play a lot of jokes and pranks on you, sempai."

They both chuckled at her comment. By this time, the cake was ready to bake. And what an impressive cake it was! It had enough chocolate to make any woman think Keitaro wasn't a dork, let alone make Kitsune cheerful again. 

"We made quite a mess trying to put a cake together," Keitaro noticed, "I'll clean it up while you keep an eye on the cake. Shinobu agreed. In hindsight, perhaps it should have been the other way around. As Naru was entering the kitchen, as she was attracted by the smell of chocolate, Keitaro slipped on the rolling pin he forgot he laid on the ground. Now out of control, Keitaro smashed straight into Naru. But it was the fact that he had both hands cupping both of her boobs while he was laying on top of her on the ground that really pissed her off.

"My God Keitaro," she roared, "can't you ever get enough!"

A speeding fist of rage met Keitaro's head ,and sent him soaring into the oven. Leaving a sizable dent in the oven door, Keitaro now examined that the cake was finished baking. So were the flying Naru figures spinning around his head.

"Ooooww...okay Shinobu. Cake's ready!"

The loud thump had woken Kitsune up from her sleep. Wondering what was going on downstairs, she got out of bed to investigate. Walking down to the kitchen, she eyed the magnificent chocolate cake cooling of on the table.

"Oh my, what's this?" she asked attentively.

Spying a small curl of her lips, Keitaro let out a sigh of relief. Let's just hope it tastes


End file.
